Zhongji Innolight raises HK$53.4B in Hong Kong's largest IPO since 2019 on AI optics

Chinese optical transceiver maker Zhongji Innolight raised HK$53.4 billion ($6.81 billion) in Hong Kong's largest initial public offering since 2019, underscoring strong investor appetite for companies tied to the global artificial intelligence infrastructure boom. The company manufactures high-speed optical transceivers used in AI data centres and cloud computing networks, making it one of the biggest beneficiaries of surging investment in AI infrastructure. The company priced 54.5 million shares at HK$980 apiece, an 11% discount to the onshore-listed stock.

Zhongji held a 21% share of the global optical interconnect market in 2025 and counts Meta, Google, Huawei and Nvidia among its customers. For full-year 2025, the company achieved revenue of 38.24 billion yuan (approximately $5.6 billion), up 60.3% year-on-year, with net profit surging 115.6% year-on-year. For the three months ended March 31, 2026, quarterly revenue reached 19.5 billion yuan (approximately $2.9 billion), skyrocketing 192.1% year-on-year, while net profit jumped 262% to 5.74 billion yuan (approximately $846.4 million).

Zhongji Innolight dropped in its Hong Kong trading debut, with shares falling as much as 3.1% on Thursday. Architects should watch Zhongji as a direct proxy for optical networking capex intensity in AI data centers. The company counts five customers for 81.9% of revenue, leaving growth exposed to mega-cap procurement cycles, but the IPO scale and cornerstone investor roster (NVIDIA, Temasek, Alibaba, Tencent, BlackRock, CATL, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority) signal institutional conviction in sustained interconnect demand.